wpa_supplicant and frequent disconnects

[Christopher Berardi]

Hello,

I'm having a problem with my wireless network kicking out every 1 to 3 hours. It'll be going just fine and then all of a sudden, it just won't be there and any open connections, be it email, irc, download, etc. just times out. At that point, I have to manually restart wpa_supplicant, network, and dhcp to get back online. This only affects the wireless connection as wired connections to other computers on the same network remain alive. When I run Ubuntu Linux, I don't experience this problem (if it does kick out, it reconnects automatically, seamlessly, and transparently). I'm hoping there is a way to make my connection equally reliable on NetBSD.

My setup: Lenovo T61 with an Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG. I'm running it on a DSL connection from my phone company using a AT&T 2701HB-G 2Wire Modem/Router with Software Revision: 5.29.109.1

The relevant portion of my rc.conf:
# This is for wireless WPA
#
wpa_supplicant=YES
wpa_supplicant_flags="-B -i wpi0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf"
critical_filesystems_local="/var /usr"

# This will allow for DHCP
# The flags state to not to wait for a lease; useful if no network is
# within reach, so boot will not hang
#
dhclient=YES
dhclient_flags="-nw"



Here is my wpa_supplicant.conf (with sensitive information blacked out):
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel

# home network; AT&T DSL with 2701HG-B Gateway
network={
ssid="xxxxxxxxx"
scan_ssid=1
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
psk="xxxxxxxxx"
}



And here is my dmesg:
Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
The NetBSD Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

NetBSD 5.0.1 (GENERIC) #0: Thu Jul 30 01:39:11 UTC 2009
***@b8.netbsd.org:/home/builds/ab/netbsd-5-0-1-RELEASE/i386/200907292356Z-obj/home/builds/ab/netbsd-5-0-1-RELEASE/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/GENERIC
total memory = 3062 MB
avail memory = 2997 MB
timecounter: Timecounters tick every 10.000 msec
timecounter: Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 100
LENOVO 6465CTO (ThinkPad T61)
mainbus0 (root)
cpu0 at mainbus0 apid 0: Intel 686-class, 2493MHz, id 0x10676
cpu1 at mainbus0 apid 1: Intel 686-class, 2493MHz, id 0x10676
ioapic0 at mainbus0 apid 1: pa 0xfec00000, version 20, 24 pins
acpi0 at mainbus0: Intel ACPICA 20080321
acpi0: X/RSDT: OemId <LENOVO,TP-7L ,00002210>, AslId < LTP,00000000>
acpiecdt0 at acpi0: ACPI Embedded Controller via ECDT
acpi0: SCI interrupting at int 9
acpi0: fixed-feature power button present
timecounter: Timecounter "ACPI-Safe" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 900
ACPI-Safe 24-bit timer
acpilid0 at acpi0 (LID, PNP0C0D): ACPI Lid Switch
acpibut0 at acpi0 (SLPB, PNP0C0E): ACPI Sleep Button
attimer1 at acpi0 (TIMR, PNP0100): AT Timer
attimer1: io 0x40-0x43 irq 0
hpet0 at acpi0 (HPET, PNP0103)
hpet0: mem 0xfed00000-0xfed003ff
timecounter: Timecounter "hpet0" frequency 14318179 Hz quality 2000
pcppi1 at acpi0 (SPKR, PNP0800)
pcppi1: io 0x61
midi0 at pcppi1: PC speaker (CPU-intensive output)
sysbeep0 at pcppi1
npx1 at acpi0 (FPU, PNP0C04)
npx1: io 0xf0 irq 13
npx1: reported by CPUID; using exception 16
pckbc1 at acpi0 (KBD, PNP0303): kbd port
pckbc1: io 0x60,0x64 irq 1
pckbc2 at acpi0 (MOU, IBM0057): aux port
pckbc2: irq 12
TPM (ATM1200) at acpi0 not configured
acpiec0 at acpi0 (EC, PNP0C09-0): ACPI Embedded Controller (disabled)
acpibat0 at acpi0 (BAT0, PNP0C0A-0): ACPI Battery (Control Method)
acpibat0: battery info: SANYO, LION, 42T4511 32766
acpiacad0 at acpi0 (AC, ACPI0003-0): ACPI AC Adapter
thinkpad0 at acpi0 (HKEY, IBM0068)
thinkpad0: using CMOS at \UCMS
thinkpad0: using EC at acpiecdt0
WMI0 (PNP0C14) at acpi0 not configured
acpitz0 at acpi0 (THM0): critical 127.0C, passive cooling
acpitz1 at acpi0 (THM1): critical 100.0C passive 46.0C, passive cooling
apm0 at acpi0: Power Management spec V1.2
attimer1: attached to pcppi1
pckbd0 at pckbc1 (kbd slot)
pckbc1: using irq 1 for kbd slot
wskbd0 at pckbd0: console keyboard
pms0 at pckbc1 (aux slot)
pckbc1: using irq 12 for aux slot
wsmouse0 at pms0 mux 0
pci0 at mainbus0 bus 0: configuration mode 1
pci0: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, rd/mult, wr/inv ok
pchb0 at pci0 dev 0 function 0
pchb0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2a00 (rev. 0x0c)
agp0 at pchb0: detected 7676k stolen memory
agp0: aperture at 0xe0000000, size 0x20000000
vga1 at pci0 dev 2 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2a02 (rev. 0x0c)
vga1: WARNING: ignoring 64-bit BAR @ 0x10
vga1: WARNING: ignoring 64-bit BAR @ 0x18
wsdisplay0 at vga1 kbdmux 1: console (80x25, vt100 emulation), using wskbd0
wsmux1: connecting to wsdisplay0
drm at vga1 not configured
vendor 0x8086 product 0x2a03 (miscellaneous display, revision 0x0c) at pci0 dev 2 function 1 not configured
wm0 at pci0 dev 25 function 0: Intel i82801H (M_AMT) LAN Controller, rev. 3
wm0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 20
wm0: PCI-Express bus
wm0: FLASH
wm0: Ethernet address 00:1f:e2:14:71:0d
igphy0 at wm0 phy 1: i82566 10/100/1000 media interface, rev. 0
igphy0: 10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-FDX, auto
uhci0 at pci0 dev 26 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2834 (rev. 0x03)
uhci0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 20
usb0 at uhci0: USB revision 1.0
uhci1 at pci0 dev 26 function 1: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2835 (rev. 0x03)
uhci1: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 21
usb1 at uhci1: USB revision 1.0
ehci0 at pci0 dev 26 function 7: vendor 0x8086 product 0x283a (rev. 0x03)
ehci0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 22
ehci0: EHCI version 1.0
ehci0: companion controllers, 2 ports each: uhci0 uhci1
usb2 at ehci0: USB revision 2.0
azalia0 at pci0 dev 27 function 0: Generic High Definition Audio Controller
azalia0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 17
azalia0: host: 0x8086/0x284b (rev. 3), HDA rev. 1.0
ppb0 at pci0 dev 28 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x283f (rev. 0x03)
pci1 at ppb0 bus 2
pci1: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok
ppb1 at pci0 dev 28 function 1: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2841 (rev. 0x03)
pci2 at ppb1 bus 3
pci2: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok
wpi0 at pci2 dev 0 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x4227 (rev. 0x02)
wpi0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 17
wpi0: MoW1, address 00:1f:3c:93:16:50
wpi0: 11a rates: 6Mbps 9Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
wpi0: 11b rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps
wpi0: 11g rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps 6Mbps 9Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
ppb2 at pci0 dev 28 function 2: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2843 (rev. 0x03)
pci3 at ppb2 bus 4
pci3: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok
ppb3 at pci0 dev 28 function 3: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2845 (rev. 0x03)
ppb3: disabling notification events
pci4 at ppb3 bus 5
pci4: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok
ppb4 at pci0 dev 28 function 4: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2847 (rev. 0x03)
pci5 at ppb4 bus 13
pci5: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok
uhci2 at pci0 dev 29 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2830 (rev. 0x03)
uhci2: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 16
usb3 at uhci2: USB revision 1.0
uhci3 at pci0 dev 29 function 1: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2831 (rev. 0x03)
uhci3: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 17
usb4 at uhci3: USB revision 1.0
uhci4 at pci0 dev 29 function 2: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2832 (rev. 0x03)
uhci4: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 18
usb5 at uhci4: USB revision 1.0
ehci1 at pci0 dev 29 function 7: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2836 (rev. 0x03)
ehci1: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 19
ehci1: EHCI version 1.0
ehci1: companion controllers, 2 ports each: uhci2 uhci3 uhci4
usb6 at ehci1: USB revision 2.0
ppb5 at pci0 dev 30 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2448 (rev. 0xf3)
pci6 at ppb5 bus 21
pci6: i/o space enabled
cbb0 at pci6 dev 0 function 0: vendor 0x1180 product 0x0476 (rev. 0xba)
cbb0: can't map socket base address 0xf8300000
cbb0: can't map socket base address 0xc0a12722: io mode
fwohci0 at pci6 dev 0 function 1: vendor 0x1180 product 0x0832 (rev. 0x04)
fwohci0: can't map OHCI register space
vendor 0x1180 product 0x0822 (SD Host Controller system, revision 0x21) at pci6 dev 0 function 2 not configured
vendor 0x1180 product 0x0843 (miscellaneous system, revision 0x11) at pci6 dev 0 function 3 not configured
vendor 0x1180 product 0x0592 (miscellaneous system, revision 0x11) at pci6 dev 0 function 4 not configured
vendor 0x1180 product 0x0852 (miscellaneous system, revision 0x11) at pci6 dev 0 function 5 not configured
cbb0: cacheline 0x0 lattimer 0x20
cbb0: bhlc 0x822000
cbb0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 16
cardslot0 at cbb0
cardbus0 at cardslot0: bus 22
pcmcia0 at cardslot0
ichlpcib0 at pci0 dev 31 function 0
ichlpcib0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2811 (rev. 0x03)
timecounter: Timecounter "ichlpcib0" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000
ichlpcib0: 24-bit timer
ichlpcib0: TCO (watchdog) timer configured.
piixide0 at pci0 dev 31 function 1
piixide0: Intel 82801HBM IDE Controller (ICH8M) (rev. 0x03)
piixide0: bus-master DMA support present
piixide0: primary channel configured to compatibility mode
piixide0: primary channel interrupting at ioapic0 pin 14
atabus0 at piixide0 channel 0
piixide0: secondary channel configured to compatibility mode
piixide0: secondary channel ignored (disabled)
ahcisata0 at pci0 dev 31 function 2: vendor 0x8086 product 0x2829
ahcisata0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 16
ahcisata0: AHCI revision 1.1, 3 ports, 32 command slots, features 0xe710e080
atabus1 at ahcisata0 channel 0
ichsmb0 at pci0 dev 31 function 3: vendor 0x8086 product 0x283e (rev. 0x03)
ichsmb0: interrupting at ioapic0 pin 23
iic0 at ichsmb0: I2C bus
isa0 at ichlpcib0
timecounter: Timecounter "clockinterrupt" frequency 100 Hz quality 0
azalia0: codec[0]: Analog Devices AD1984 (rev. 4.0), HDA rev. 1.0
azalia0: codec[1]: 0x14f1/0x2bfa (rev. 0.0), HDA rev. 0.9
azalia0: codec[1]: No support for modem function groups
azalia0: codec[1] has no audio function groups
audio0 at azalia0: full duplex, independent
acpiacad0: AC adapter online.
uhub0 at usb0: vendor 0x8086 UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub1 at usb1: vendor 0x8086 UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub2 at usb2: vendor 0x8086 EHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 2.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub2: 4 ports with 4 removable, self powered
atapibus0 at atabus0: 2 targets
uhub3 at usb3: vendor 0x8086 UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub4 at usb4: vendor 0x8086 UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub4: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub5 at usb5: vendor 0x8086 UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub5: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub6 at usb6: vendor 0x8086 EHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 2.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub6: 6 ports with 6 removable, self powered
cd0 at atapibus0 drive 0: <MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ-852, HC43 464284, RB02> cdrom removable
cd0: 32-bit data port
cd0: drive supports PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, Ultra-DMA mode 2 (Ultra/33)
cd0(piixide0:0:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 2 (Ultra/33) (using DMA)
ahcisata0 port 0: device present, speed: 1.5Gb/s
wd0 at atabus1 drive 0: <HITACHI HTS722016K9SA00>
wd0: drive supports 16-sector PIO transfers, LBA48 addressing
wd0: 149 GB, 310101 cyl, 16 head, 63 sec, 512 bytes/sect x 312581808 sectors
wd0: drive supports PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, Ultra-DMA mode 6 (Ultra/133)
wd0(ahcisata0:0:0): using PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, Ultra-DMA mode 6 (Ultra/133) (using DMA)
Kernelized RAIDframe activated
pad0: outputs: 44100Hz, 16-bit, stereo
audio1 at pad0: half duplex
boot device: wd0
root on wd0a dumps on wd0b
root file system type: ffs
wsdisplay0: screen 1 added (80x25, vt100 emulation)
wsdisplay0: screen 2 added (80x25, vt100 emulation)
wsdisplay0: screen 3 added (80x25, vt100 emulation)
wsdisplay0: screen 4 added (80x25, vt100 emulation)



Any help would be appreciated, as this is very annoying. Also, please CC me in any correspondance as I'm not subscribed to this list.

Thank you.

[Alan Barrett]

Post by Christopher Berardi
I'm having a problem with my wireless network kicking out every 1
to 3 hours. It'll be going just fine and then all of a sudden, it
just won't be there

I also have that problem, and I think it's failrly common. Some things
that seem to help are:

* constantly keep a wpa_cli window open;
* periodically do ifconfig ${interface} down up;

--apb (Alan Barrett)

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[Torsten Harenberg]

Hi,

Post by Christopher Berardi
I'm having a problem with my wireless network kicking out every 1 to 3 hours.

I also see this. Surprisingly, at least with my setup, incoming ssh
connections seem to survive! And although you cannot ping from the host
to anything outside (not even the local gateway), you _can_ ping the
machine.

Torsten
--
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<> <>
<> Dr. Torsten Harenberg ***@physik.uni-wuppertal.de <>
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[Joerg Sonnenberger]

Post by Torsten Harenberg
Hi,

Post by Christopher Berardi
I'm having a problem with my wireless network kicking out every 1 to 3 hours.

I also see this. Surprisingly, at least with my setup, incoming ssh
connections seem to survive! And although you cannot ping from the
host to anything outside (not even the local gateway), you _can_
ping the machine.

Pinging the local machine doesn't tell you anything. The problem is that
the rekeying doesn't work in some situations, but there hasn't really
been progress on why.

Joerg

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[Torsten Harenberg]

Post by Joerg Sonnenberger
Pinging the local machine doesn't tell you anything. The problem is that
the rekeying doesn't work in some situations, but there hasn't really
been progress on why.

But how can an incoming ssh connection survive? (Just for curiosity)

Torsten
--
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<> <>
<> Dr. Torsten Harenberg ***@physik.uni-wuppertal.de <>
<> Bergische Universitaet <>
<> FB C - Physik Tel.: [phone] <>
<> Gaussstr. 20 Fax : [phone] <>
<> 42097 Wuppertal <>
<> <>
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[Joerg Sonnenberger]

Post by Torsten Harenberg

Post by Joerg Sonnenberger
Pinging the local machine doesn't tell you anything. The problem is that
the rekeying doesn't work in some situations, but there hasn't really
been progress on why.

But how can an incoming ssh connection survive? (Just for curiosity)

If the rekeying does happen at some point and nothing was send, the
connection will not timeout for a long time.

Joerg

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[Torsten Harenberg]

Hi Joerg,

Post by Joerg Sonnenberger
If the rekeying does happen at some point and nothing was send, the
connection will not timeout for a long time.

strange: I was doing pkgsrc stuff (compiling for hours) on this
connection, so tons of messages were continously flowing and the
connection was not stuck at all, but I was still able to use it
interactvily (actually, I only noticed the problem as ftp was not able
to download futher sources).

But: giving wpa_supplicant a kick through wpa_cli re-emabled new
connections.

That happened now twice and I still find it strange, so I just thought
it might be useful to post it here, as it might help to understand where
the problem could be.

Cheers,

Torsten
--
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<> <>
<> Dr. Torsten Harenberg ***@physik.uni-wuppertal.de <>
<> Bergische Universitaet <>
<> FB C - Physik Tel.: [phone] <>
<> Gaussstr. 20 Fax : [phone] <>
<> 42097 Wuppertal <>
<> <>
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